


A Stranger Returns

by Tarlan



Series: Time Line [1]
Category: Primeval
Genre: Community: smallfandomfest, M/M, POV First Person
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2007-06-15
Updated: 2007-06-15
Packaged: 2017-10-12 23:02:04
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,152
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/130076
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tarlan/pseuds/Tarlan
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When Nick returns to the present, everything looks the same and yet all has changed.</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Stranger Returns

**Author's Note:**

> For the lj community smallfandomfest challenge: Primeval - Nick/Stephen - Aftermath.  
> Just one possible present due to changes in the past.

**Nick's Point of View:**

I had loved her once and the memory of that love had been enough to set me on this journey through the anomalies, trying to find her, having convinced myself that she was lost or trapped somewhere in the past or future. I had blinded myself to the faults that had opened a chasm between us both professionally and personally, had forgotten her single-minded pursuit of knowledge no matter the consequence.

Messing with time was a major consequence.

I never noticed that she had filled part of that chasm in her own spiteful way by luring in her most promising student, and now she is rubbing that adulterous relationship in my face. Yet I can see by the malicious gleam in her eye that her intention is not to belittle me with the knowledge of her betrayal of our marriage vows but to highlight Stephen's betrayal. She knows I have fallen out of love with her, knows that I will not follow her back inside the anomaly out of misguided love or even for the thirst for knowledge. No, she wants to hurt me for choosing Claudia and Stephen over her, by destroying the bonds that have formed between the three of us over the past few months.

She turns away, her expression both hurt and scornful and I watch as she steps back through the anomaly alone, for Stephen has chosen to brave my fury rather than take the easy road and follow her. It did not totally mitigate his betrayal but it was a step in the right direction at least.

I look at him again and though he does not drop his eyes away in shame, I see the quiet desperation and read the pleading for forgiveness in those eyes. Only then do I notice someone missing from the group that had remained behind. Claudia was gone... or worse than gone. She had never existed and I knew then that we had not destroyed all of the offspring from the predator of the future, leaving something back in the past that had damaged the present, wiping out a whole lineage of humanity.

"We have to go back and fix this!" I yell.

Young Connor is the first to understand the full ramifications even though he knows only of the current timeline rather than the one that is conflicting within my head. As they begin to debate, I wonder what else has changed and I wonder how many others that I once knew no longer exist in this present.

"We can't! Look!" Connor points over my shoulder and I turn in time to see the anomaly become unstable. Desperate, I lunge towards it, yelling out in dismay in case it winks out before I can reach it. If it disappears then it will leave me with no means of correcting the past so I can restore the present and with it would go my one chance of restoring Claudia to her rightful place in existence because the link to that moment in time would be gone. Another might appear but it could take me to any place or time, unless Helen knew far more than she was letting on, controlling these anomalies some how. Yet, if that were true then my biggest mistake was in allowing her to walk away.

I stare at the space where the anomaly fluctuates madly, willing it to remain a while longer, with part of me terrified of what I might find in this strange new present if abandoned here.

When it expands rapidly instead of collapsing, I cry out in fear, "oh my God!"

****

 **Stephen's Point of View:**

I knew from the moment he stepped back through the anomaly with Helen that this was not my Nick Cutter, though she was no different. She was the same Helen Cutter who had run rough shod over everyone else's ideas and emotions, seeing only her personal ambitions and goals.

Our affair had lasted all of a month before I realized I was simply a diversion to her. My own interest in her had not exactly been altruistic and I knew she was married when I allowed her to seduce me so I could hardly find fault with her. I had seen her husband around the campus, had even spoken to him once or twice before the day she disappeared.

I'm not entirely sure how I came to be one of his trusted little group, consisting of me, Abby and Connor, but I can tell from the look on his face that this Nick Cutter has never been more than a colleague to his Stephen Hart. They have never shared a few beers down the pub, or gone home afterwards to make love in his Stephen's bed because he could not bring himself to taint his matrimonial bed... until he realizes she had walked away from him deliberately and could have returned at any time.

He glares at me when Helen reveals our short but torrid affair but it is not the bitterness of a lover's betrayal that momentarily clouds his eyes, or of a wife's betrayal. I refuse to look away in shame and I swallow the need to shout out in grief, even though I have lost my lover today. I see a flash of relief in his eyes when I do not tuck my tail between my legs and follow Helen, if only to avoid the pain of this loss. It has to mean something.

Claudia?

My throat tightens at the look on his face as he speaks her name. Only a short time ago, it was my name falling from his lips as he threw caution to the wind, pulled me to him and kissed me deep and hard, promising to come back. Even though he stands before me now, exactly how I remember him, I know he has broken that promise and a near stranger has returned in his place.

Perhaps it is just a temporary aberration. Perhaps his memory of last night will return and he will remember the words of passion whispered hoarsely into my ear as he thrust deep inside me. Perhaps the sense memory is still buried inside of him somewhere and he will recall the touch of my hands upon his naked flesh, the slide of my mouth over a tight nipple and my breath mingling with his as we kiss passionately. Perhaps he will remember his promise to love me forever.

I stare at the space where the anomaly fluctuates madly, willing it to remain a while longer, with part of me terrified that I would never know his love again.

When it expands rapidly instead of collapsing, I hear Nick cry out in fear, "oh my God!". Part of me hopes that God is hearing my silent prayer and that it won't be a stranger who returns next time.

THE END


End file.
